This Old House
by Yulliah
Summary: Harry revisits that which could have been.


**Hey , everyone! I know, it's been AGES! Had a really bad case of Writer's block, and I'm only just recovering from it.**

**I'm currently working on Time Will Tell, Paradox and A Twin Thing, and I hope I'll be able to to update in the coming month! As for A Twin Thing, I'd rather get back into an updating schedule, so I promised myself I'd finish writing that one before I resume posting. The other two will be updated as I write them.**

**I've written another Drarry for the Fandom for LLS compilation, and that will show up here on FFnet around December. It's not really a OS, even though it is... 39333 words though.**

**Well, this one here is VERY short, and unbetaed. Though I don't think there were that many bad mistakes in it. If there are, well, boohoo! Read past them just this once! ;)**

**As always: I don't own anything, and I hope you'll enjoy this little fic!**

**(Banner can be found on my Facebook page!)**

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I lift my head to the shining sun and bask in it's warmth a second longer before letting the darkness back in. Taking a step inside, I watch how the bright light paints pretty colors that dance on the broken tiled floor through stained glass windows. I nearly slip on a strip of damp moss and reach out to catch myself against the rotting door frame.

"_Could you imagine what this could be? Could you imagine living in a place like this?"_

"_Yes, Potter," he replied dryly and sneered when a cobweb caught in his hair._

"_Well, I love it all the same. I can see what a couple of kids and a few licks of paint could do for a place like this."_

"_First it's stray puppies, and now you're saving abandoned homes?" He sighed when I pouted slightly, and headed for the staircase. "Let's just do what we came here to do."_

The expensive mozaïc inlay of the floor in the parlor is all but burnt away. Only a few inches of soft polished hardwood reminding me what the place looked like when I first set foot in it. The day I lost what could've been. Something fragile, tentative as spring, just a breath on the wind still.

I cast a strengthening Charm on the wooden curves that keep the ceiling from collapsing and make my way through the hallway to the kitchen. That's where I was, when it happened. Completely engrossed in the complicated interweaving of Wards and repelling Charms on the basement door.

The sun shines through the holes in the walls and focuses on the ivory and slate kitchen counters. If I could just be the sun and see whatever it shone on, maybe I could see this place the way it was in my memory. Rich splendor and possibility. The musky air pregnant with the chance of a future.

"_What do you want to do later?" he asked._

_I shrugged and lifted a stack of old books that didn't seem Dark enough to warrant distraint. "Hey, look at this." I said and picked up the portrait underneath._

"_Well, I don't know if it's a Dark Artifact just by looking at it, but a face like that should definitely be illegal."_

_I bumped his shoulder. "Don't be rude."_

"_Fine, tonight, though. You haven't answered me. "Dinner? Maybe a show?"_

_I chanced a quick peck on his cheek and put the portrait back on the floor. It didn't seem to be a Wizarding portrait in any case. "Fine, dinner and a show. But I need a shower after our search, you'll have to pick me up at home."_

It takes a bit of Transfiguration and some more strengthening Charms to get up to the first floor now, the staircase is completely ruined by the fires that consumed almost everything. You can still see how beautiful it used to be though. Iron railing going three stories up, decorated with a fine Art Nouveau filigree. It's still there, even though the rich Ebony beams shooting up like the trees in a rainforest are gone.

There had certainly been a lot of Artifacts in the Library on the first floor. It's nothing but cold stone and metal beams now, but my memory can fill in the rest. Honey and red used to be the primary colors. Sconces on the wall lighting the place up warmly, and a fireplace in the corner that wasn't lit, but gave me dreams of sitting down in front of it with a good book, while my Husband and the children run about with their dogs or each other. Playing. I'd been able to hear the laughter that is nothing but an echo in the back of my mind now.

It took me ages to rummage through this room. Nothing was ever as it seemed, and even the books on de-gnoming gardens couldn't be trusted. There was just so much to do, and so little time.

"_Are you still in here daydreaming? Life used to be so much simpler when I could just curse you for laziness. Now that we're friends, I don't know-"_

_I laughed brightly and watched him over my shoulder. He was leaning against the doorframe, his arms over his well formed chest. He was smiling that bright smile right back at me, and I winked._

"_You like being my friend," I retorted and watched him roll his eyes at me._

"_I'd rather be your lover."_

"_Yeah, I know, but as much as I'd love to jump in bed with you and have my wicked way, I think there's more to you and me."_

_He breathed in deeply and glanced out of the narrow window. "I know, and you're right. Give us a kiss, and we'll try and finish this bloody house at a descent time."_

"_Yeah," I sighed against his lips and reveled for a moment in the softness and sweetness of his mouth. It definitely wouldn't do to rush something that could be great. Something that could be for life._

I hear my footsteps echo through the this entire side of the house. The walls had been made of wood and beams, and that's all gone now. I step lightly and carefully over stone ledges and a few remaining planks. There's ivy growing inside, and I can see that the doorway that used to lead to the master bedroom is overgrown with moss and other plants.

When I say it used to lead to the master bedroom, that's exactly what I mean. That whole part of the house is gone now. Blasted away by the explosion.

I slide my back down the wall and wave my Wand in the direction of the door frame, clearing my view to uncover fields of green grass and purple flowers.

_The ground shook and a loud roar overwhelmed my senses. There were no cries, no screams, no nothing. Just that roaring that could be anything from wild beast to devouring flames._

"_Draco!" I yelled, running through the hallway, trying to get through the falling rubble to the staircase. "Draco!"_

_No one replied, and when I reached the main staircase, I could see the fire, and feel its heat._

"_Draco!"_

_I got outside, hoping he'd be out back, maybe jumped out a window when the explosion hit._

_He wasn't there. A whole part of the house wasn't there._

_And the flames._

"_Draco!"_

Two strong arms envelope me as I sob softly.

"Shhh, baby, I've got you."

I give in to my husband's strength. We've been together for five years now, with two lovely children running around my new future, the future Charlie gave me.

No one but him understood my depression after it happened.

He was just my partner, they thought. We just worked together, they said. We didn't even like each other, they swore.

And sometimes I come back here, reaching out for that far away possibility. Looking for what could've been, because for all my heart I've given to the man holding me now, there's a piece of it missing.

There will always be a piece of it that belongs to him.

I look up into those bright blue eyes and smile weakly.

"Was it ever even there at all?" I ask, because I need him to tell me this is fine. I need him to show me he understands and accepts the part Draco Malfoy will always have in my life, even if our time together was nothing more than that breath on the wind, that rich splendor of possibility, that fragile, tentative chance of a future that never was.

He kisses the side of my head and runs long dexterous fingers through my hair.

"It was, baby, it was," he says softly, and I close my eyes.

"Bye Dray," I whisper. "I would've loved you."

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**Please let me know what you think... :) Jules**


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